History Main / SuburbanGothic

* Music/TomWaits' spoken word piece "What's He Building In There?" (off the ''Music/MuleVariations'' album) details a suburban community's paranoia, with the narrator recounting a variety of rumors and weird details about a reclusive neighbor, who is apparently building... something. It's left ambiguous whether the narrator (and possibly the rest of the community) are being unreasonably paranoid over a harmless eccentric, whether the neighbor truly is a dangerous MadScientist, or maybe both.

Compare also to SouthernGothic, another subgenre in the American Gothic tradition, and LovecraftCountry. However, unlike those tropes, Suburban Gothic is not regionally defined, and the fact that the suburbs are so interchangeable through the country arguably adds to the creepiness. Films that take place in StepfordSuburbia can be this trope, but unlike Stepford Suburbia, Suburban Gothic media does not ''require'' the town to be so perfect it's creepy.

* ''WesternAnimation/ParaNorman'': the quiet suburb of Blithe Hollow is filled to the brim with ghosts, who can only be seen by the protagonist, Norman. When the town is invaded by zombies, the human residents quickly prove to be more AxCrazy than the undead.

* In ''Film/BlueVelvet'', a college student returns to his suburban hometown of Lumberton, North Carolina, where he uncovers a drug dealing/human trafficking operation. The film opens with a montage of almost unnatural suburban wholesomeness, set to [[TitledAfterTheSong the eponymous song]] by Music/BobbyVinton.

* ''Film/TrickRTreat'' takes place in the suburban town of Warren Valley, Ohio, which has many dark secrets to hide including a high school principle who is a serial killer, a coven of werewolves, and the ghosts of a group of disable children whose parents arranged their murder.

* ''Literature/{{It}}'' begins with a boy being murdered by a clown living in the sewers under his suburban Maine town and continues with his brother and a group of friends investigating the mystery behind his death while being stalked by the [[BarbaricBully town bully]].
* ''Literature/TheLovelyBones'' is told from the point of view of a teenage girl watching her family from the afterlife after she is raped and murdered by a neighbor on her way home from school. The novel follows Susie as she learns that her neighbor is a serial killer and her family as her father looses himself in trying to find her killer and her mother has an affair and eventually leaves the family.

* ''Series/TwinPeaks'': The bulk of the series is set in mundane suburbs in various cities, and all of them are a front for either criminal activity or the extradimensional horror from the Black Lodge.

* In ''Film/AmericanBeauty'', despite their idyllic public facing aspects of their lives, Lester Burnham's suburbia is already rotten. His marriage is unhappy, his daughter resents him, and he's trapped in a dead-end job that he hates. Also, all of his family members are planning to kill him.

* ''Series/Dark2017'' is this in the town of Winden, a small German town in the middle of the Black Forest, vaguely eerie and yet unremarkable except for hosting a nuclear power plant … [[spoiler:and beneath it, a series of caves and tunnels concealing a time portal that opens into other specific eras, always at 33-year intervals away from the present]]. (In fact, it's been described as essentially a NordicNoir (or in this case, Germanic Noir) version of ''Series/StrangerThings''.)

* ''{{Literature/Mass}}'' has the super-elite suburb (or rather, gated subdivision) of Forbes Park play setting to [[spoiler:TheNarrator's murder of oligarch Juan Puneta, though as said narrator, Pepe Samson, is a working-class activist, this isn't necessarily portrayed as an out-and-out ''bad'' thing—but it's also triggered by a pretty Gothic trope: Pepe's discovering the terrible secret that Puneta was involved in a FalseFlagOperation to violently suppress and kill many street protesters]].

* ''Series/Dark2017'' is this in the town of Winden, a small German town in the middle of the Black Forest, vaguely eerie and yet unremarkable except for hosting a nuclear power plant … [[spoiler:and beneath it, a series of caves and tunnels concealing a time portal that opens into other specific eras, always at 33-year intervals away from the present]].

Suburban Gothic shares some history with WeirdWest, both drawing on the idea of the meeting place between civilization -- in Suburban Gothic, the city -- and the unknown -- the undeveloped countryside. Interestingly, the rhetoric of suburbanization in the 1950s often paralleled the "Manifest Destiny" rhetoric of nineteenth century expansion in the American West, with those who left the cities for the unknown world of suburbia being referred to as "settlers" or "pioneers."

* ''Series/Dark2017'' is this in the town of Winden, a small German town in the middle of the Black Forest, vaguely eerie and yet unremarkable except for hosting a nuclear power plant … [[spoiler:and beneath it, a series of caves and tunnels concealing a time portal that opens into other specific eras, 33 years away from the present]].

* The secret occult horror lurking beneath America's small towns and suburbs is one of the main recurring themes of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''.

* Though not an American film, ''Film/{{Parasite}}'' has a suburbia-adjacent setting, lots of commentary on consumerism and the nuclear family, and a strong Gothic influence--particularly the part where [[spoiler: a man lives in a secret passage under the house, totally unbeknownst to the other residents]].

* ''Film/{{Poltergeist}}'' follows a family living in a new planned community in California being terrorized by a poltergeist. It turns out that the community [[spoiler:was built on top of an old cemetery and only the headstones were moved prior to construction.]]

* ''Film/GetOut'': In the opening scene, Andre lampshades this trope and says that he feels deeply uncomfortable in the suburbs, where everything looks identical and he can't figure out how to get home. He's then kidnapped off the white-picketed fenced lawns, which is also where Chris and Rose go for their supposedly peaceful vacation. [[spoiler:Only for Chris to learn that Rose and her family kidnap, brainwash, and torture black people as part of a cult.]]

* ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers1956'' is an early example with a strong focus of loss of individuality. Residents of a peaceful suburb in California are gradually replaced by emotionless "pod people" who look identical to them, causing the protagonists friends and loved ones [[spoiler:and even some of the protagonists themselves]] to become villains.
** Averted in the 1978 remake, which moves the setting to downtown San Francisco.

* ''Film/MissMeadows'': An apparently "nice neighborhood" is the haunt of kidnappers, killers and child molestors, and the only person who can help is the eponymous (and almost equally disturbed) heroine.
* In ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984'', the teenagers of Springwood, Ohio are haunted one by one in their sleep by [[spoiler:the ghost of a child murderer who was burned alive by their parents after being released on a technicality.]]

* ''Film/WeNeedToTalkAboutKevin'' and the book it is based on follow a mother's memories of raising her son in the wake of a massacre he committed at his high school, [[spoiler:after killing his father and sister.]] The book and film explore the dynamic between Kevin, his mother, didn't want children and was abusive toward him when he was young, and his father, who is unfailingly optimistic about the prospect of having a happy family, causing him to overlook Kevin's behavioral warning signs.

* In ''Film/BlueVelvet'', a college student returns to his suburban hometown of Lumberton, North Carolina, where he uncovers a drug dealing/human trafficking operation.

** The original film and most of its sequels take place in sleepy Haddonfield, Illinois where kids walk to school by themselves and the biggest problem on our protagonist's mind is asking out a boy she likes. Hadonfield is also Michael Myers, who killed his sister at age six and is about to return home again.
** In [[AlternateContinuity one version]] of ''Halloween'' canon, Hadonfield is also home to a demonic cult.

* In ''Film/{{Heathers}}'', a deconstruction of 1980s teen dramas, a teenage girl and her boyfriend kill several popular students at their suburban Hohio high school and stage them to look like suicides, prompting other classmates to attempt suicide as well.

* ''Series/EerieIndiana'': Teenager Marshall Teller and his family move to the title suburbia-style town, which hides all manner of sinister, nightmarish doings beneath its white-bread surface. Haunted places, creepy clubs, weirdly menacing townsfolk, extraterrestrials, sentient killer tornadoes, and dogs that want to take over the world populate this ominous place. Even {{Bigfoot}} and a still-living Music/ElvisPresley are encountered.

* ''Series/EerieIndiana'': Teenager Marshall Teller and his family move to the title suburbia-style town, which hides all manner of sinister, nightmarish doings beneath its white-bread surface. Haunted places, creepy clubs, weirdly menacing townsfolk, extraterrestrials, and dogs that want to take over the world populate this ominous place. Even {{Bigfoot}} and a still-living Music/ElvisPresley are encountered.

* ''Series/EerieIndiana'': Teenager Marshall Teller and his family move to the title suburbia-style town, which hides all manner of sinister, nightmarish doings beneath its white-bread surface. Haunted places, creepy clubs, weirdly menacing townsfolk, extraterrestrials, and dogs that want to take over the world populate this ominous place.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''Series/TheAddamsFamily''. Like ''Series/TheMunsters'', the family is eccentric and macabre in the extreme -- they blow up model trains, own a lion and a meat-eating plant, enjoy sleeping on nail beds, snip the bugs off roses while keeping just the thorny stems, and inadvertently make their more staid guests extremely uncomfortable, among other things -- but they're a loving, tightly-knit family and ultimately a good-hearted bunch.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''Series/TheMunsters''. Like ''Series/TheAddamsFamily'', the family is eccentric and ghoulish to a fault -- they are all (except for Marilyn) dead-ringers for classic Universal Studios horror monsters, they own a fire-breathing dragon and a bat and a roaring cat as pets, have a mad-scientist grandfather who whips up all manner of weird potions, drive a souped-up hearse around the neighborhood, and often inadvertently frighten off visitors -- but they're a loving, tightly-knit family and ultimately a good-hearted bunch.

[[{{Creator/Shirley Jackson}} Shirley Jackson's]] ''The Road Through the Wall'', published in 1948 is often considered a foundational text in the development of the subgenre, as is [[{{Creator/Richard Matheson}} Richard Matheson's]] ''Literature/IAmLegend'', published in 1954. Other notable early Suburban Gothic authors include {{Creator/Ira Levin}} and {{Creator/Vladimir Nabokov}}. Today, this trope is most noticeable in horror movies, especially those of the 1970s and 1980s.

Suburban Gothic shares some history with WeirdWest, both drawing on the idea of the meeting place between civilization--in Suburban Gothic, the city--and the unknown--the undeveloped countryside. Interestingly, the rhetoric of suburbanization in the 1950s often paralleled the "Manifest Destiny" rhetoric of nineteenth century expansion in the American West, with those who left the cities for the unknown world of suburbia being referred to as "settlers" or "pioneers."

[[AC: Film - Animated]]
* In ''{{WesternAnimation/Monster House}}'', a boy and his friends are terrorized by the house across the street, which is alive and malevolent but inactive when adults are around.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{ParaNorman}}'': the quiet suburb of Blithe Hollow is filled to the brim with ghosts, who can only be seen by the protagonist, Norman. When the town is invaded by zombies, the human residents quickly prove to be more AxCrazy than the undead.

[[AC: Film - Live Action]]
* In ''{{Film/American Beauty}}'', despite their idyllic public facing aspects of their lives, Lester Burnham's suburbia is already rotten. His marriage is unhappy, his daughter resents him, and he's trapped in a dead-end job that he hates. Also, all of his family members are planning to kill him.
* ''{{Film/Assassination Nation}}'' uses the revelation of a sleepy suburban town ([[{{Anvilicious}} subtly named]] Salem's) dark secrets to explore mob mentality
* In ''{{Film/Blue Velvet}}'', a college student returns to his suburban hometown of Lumberton, North Carolina, where he uncovers a drug dealing/human trafficking operation.
* Explored in ''Film/TheBurbs'': gossipy neighbors in a very middle-America cul de sac deal with the very real possibility that the new neighbors might be a family of serial killers... Or they themselves might be going nuts.
* ''{{Film/Disturbia}}'' is about a teenage boy under house arrest who, after having his cable and internet access cut, takes advantage of his ample free time to spy on the rest of the neighborhood and discovers that his nextdoor neighbor is a serial killer.
* ''{{Film/Donnie Darko}}'', set in the suburban town of Middlesex, Virginia, features many teen movie archetypes, like the outcast teenager and the high school romance, and posits that all of them are disguises. Donnie unveils some of the town's dark secrets but [[spoiler:when he dies, all of this is undone and]] life carries on as it always has.
* ''{{Film/Edward Scissorhands}}'' marries Suburban Gothic with traditional Gothic tropes to explore the themes of suburban conformity and mistrust of anything different.
* ''{{Film/Fright Night 1985}}'' and its [[{{Film/Fright Night 2011}} 2011 remake]] are about a teenage boy living in suburban Las Vegas who realizes that his nextdoor neighbor is a vampire.
* In ''{{Film/Heathers}}'', a deconstruction of 1980s teen dramas, a teenage girl and her boyfriend kill several popular students at their suburban Hohio high school and stage them to look like suicides, prompting other classmates to attempt suicide as well.

* ''{{Franchise/Halloween}}''

* ''{{Film/Invasion Of The Body Snatchers 1956}}'' is an early example with a strong focus of loss of individuality. Residents of a peaceful suburb in California are gradually replaced by emotionless "pod people" who look identical to them, causing the protagonists friends and loved ones [[spoiler:and even some of the protagonists themselves]] to become villains.
* In ''{{Film/It Follows}}'', the danger lies in a curse that's passed from one person to another by sex and is traveling invisibly between teenagers and young adults in suburban Detroit.
* In ''{{Film/Jennifers Body}}'', the titular character, a teenage cheerleader, is sacrificed to Satan in the woods behind a local bar and then becomes a succubus, eating her way through the boys at her suburban Minnesota high school.

* In ''{{Film/A Nightmare On Elm Street 1984}}'', the teenagers of Springwood, Ohio are haunted one by one in their sleep by [[spoiler:the ghost of a child murderer who was burned alive by their parents after being released on a technicality.]]
* ''{{Film/Poltergeist}}'' follows a family living in a new planned community in California being terrorized by a poltergeist. It turns out that the community [[spoiler:was built on top of an old cemetery and only the headstones were moved prior to construction.]]
* Naturally, ''{{Film/Scream 1996}}'' falls into this trope, since most of the movies it pays {{homage}} to fall into this trope. High school students in an upper class suburban town begin turning up dead and the [[spoiler:killers are two of their classmates, born and raised in town, who have been planning this murder spree for the past year since they killed the protagonist's mother.]]

* ''{{Film/Trick R Treat}}'' takes place in the suburban town of Warren Valley, Ohio, which has many dark secrets to hide including a high school principle who is a serial killer, a coven of werewolves, and the ghosts of a group of disable children whose parents arranged their murder.

* ''{{Film/We Need To Talk About Kevin}}'' and the book it is based on follow a mother's memories of raising her son in the wake of a massacre he committed at his high school, [[spoiler:after killing his father and sister.]] The book and film explore the dynamic between Kevin, his mother, didn't want children and was abusive toward him when he was young, and his father, who is unfailingly optimistic about the prospect of having a happy family, causing him to overlook Kevin's behavioral warning signs.

[[AC: Literature]]
* ''{{Literature/Gone Girl}}'' focuses on a married couple, Amy and Nick, who were forced to move from New York City to the suburbs of Missouri when Nick's mother got sick. Much of the narrative focuses on how their formerly-happy marriage became troubled and downright cruel over the course of five years, culminating in Amy's disappearance on their anniversary, and the subsequent murder investigation. Secrets, betrayals, and [[TheReveal shocking twists]] abound, especially around part two, which is when the book becomes a pure psychological thriller. Emphasized in this quote from Amy's diary, just after they move:
--->''Nick promised to take care of me, and yet I feel afraid. I feel like something is going wrong, very wrong, and that it will get even worse. I don't feel like Nick's wife. I don't feel like a person at all: I am something to be loaded and unloaded, like a sofa or a cuckoo clock. I am something to be tossed into a junkyard, thrown into the river, if necessary. I don't feel real anymore. I feel like I could disappear.''
* Anne Rivers Siddons' ''[[Literature/TheHouseNextDoor The House Next Door]]'' is a classic of suburban Gothic, taking place in a wealthy Atlanta suburb and involving a snazzy house that does nasty. things to its inhabitants.
* [[Creator/StephenKing Stephen King's]] ''{{Literature/It}}'' begins with a boy being murdered by a clown living in the sewers under his suburban Maine town and continues with his brother and a group of friends investigating the mystery behind his death while being stalked by the [[BarbaricBully town bully]].
* ''{{Literature/The Lovely Bones}}'' is told from the point of view of a teenage girl watching her family from the afterlife after she is raped and murdered by a neighbor on her way home from school. The novel follows Susie as she learns that her neighbor is a serial killer and her family as her father looses himself in trying to find her killer and her mother has an affair and eventually leaves the family.

[[AC: Live-Action TV]]
* In Season Five of ''Series/{{Angel}}'', first Lyndsey and then Gunn are trapped in a hell-dimension where they apparently have an idyllic suburban life with a perfect wife and children, except that after breakfast every day they are dragged down into the TortureCellar and tortured to death by a demon. The scenes include direct visual references to ''Film/EdwardScissorhands''.

* ''{{Series/Stranger Things}}'' focuses on a group of teenagers living in Hawkins, Indiana, where a number of destructive supernatural events stemming from research at a local laboratory begin to occur.
* In ''Series/TwinPeaks'': The Return, the bulk of the series is set in mundane suburbs in various cities, and all of them are a front for either criminal activity or the extradimensional horror from the Black Lodge.
[[AC: Video Games]]
* Twice in the ''{{Franchise/Hitman}} '' Franchise.

** As a ''{{Callback}}'' to Blood Money, ''VideoGame/Hitman2'' has you invade yet another suburban town, to kill a former KGB Agent, and his bodyguard. This level also features a muffin baking granny, who spikes her muffins with addictive drugs, and has what the game literally refers to as a "Murder Basement".

* ''Film/MissMeadows'': an apparently "nice neighborhood" is the haunt of kidnappers, killers and child molestors, and the only person who can help is the eponymous (and almost equally disturbed) heroine.

* In ''Series/TwinPeaks'': The Return, the bulk of the series is set in mundane suburbs in various cities, and all of them are a front for either criminal activity or the extradimensional horror from the Black Lodge.